Did you know Dracula had his own TV show in 1990? This is the Halloween season, so let’s watch it!

We’re now more than halfway through watching Dracula the Series. Episode 13, if you can believe it, is actually called “The Great Tickler.”

Cemetery plot: Uncle Gustav befriends Mycroft Tickler, a musician and actor of some renown. Turns out Tickler is the brother of Dr. Smith, the scientist we met back in episode 5, who had invented an anti-vampire gun. Lucard (a.k.a. Dracula) kidnaps Tickler and Gustav, holding them hostage in exchange for the gun. Young Max and Dr. Smith pull off a rescue, but Lucard ends up with the gun.

Zap ka-pow! Revisited.

King of the vampires: The show maintains continuity nicely when Lucard says he has renewed interest in the anti-vampire gun after a bunch of other vampires recently attempted to usurp him, in reference to previous episodes.

Blood brothers: The subplot has Max helping older brother Chris write a “teen personal ad” to get a blind date, which this episode insists is a common thing in Europe. Any Europeans out there care to chime in on whether this is a real thing? I’d Google it, but I fear that searching for “European teen personal ads” will put me on some FBI list.

Manly man.

The new Mina: Sophie is the one who anonymously answers Chris’s ad for a blind date. Turns out the whole thing was a ploy by Max to get the two of them together. Sophie says she and Chris will let Max have it… but only after they enjoy their date.

Stake master: Gustav is completely enamored with this Tickler guy, even though it’s clear as the episode goes on that Tickler is not the famous celebrity he claims to be.

Slayer’s handbook: Lucard tests the anti-vampire gun on one of his zombie-like henchmen, and it works. So, I suppose they’re more vampire than zombie, despite being referred to as “zombies.”

So done with this guy.

Killer quotes: Gustav: “A weapon like that could make you undisputed master of the undead.” Lucard: “You do have a way with words, Helsing.”

Behind the screams: Dr. Smith was played by Hungarian-born actor Patrick Monkton. There’s not a lot of info about him out there. He had prominent roles in the movie The Borrowers and in TV’s Dinotopia. He played Dr. Watson (of Sherlock Holmes fame) in an episode of the 80s revival of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and, best of all, he provided the voice of a podling in The Dark Crystal.

“Ted, I thought you were dead, dude.”

Bite me: A very silly comedy episode, all about slapstick and buffoonery. I know the show was marketed as family-friendly, but it’s still Dracula. It some have some menace, right?

Next: Did somebody call a doctor?

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